FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 25, 2020 CONTACTS: Sean Wildhack – [email protected], (315-243-2751) First-Round Leaderboard Pos. Name Scores T1 Harry Hall 63 (-8) T1 Stephan Jaeger 63 (-8) T3 Five players tied 64 (-7) Full Leaderboard | Tee Times Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger share first-round lead at Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank FARMINGTON, Utah – Through 18 holes of play in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, England’s Harry Hall and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger sit tied atop the leaderboard after matching rounds of 8-under 63 on a day where 94 players in the 156-player field broke 70. Hall began Thursday’s opening round at Oakridge Country Club near Salt Lake City in idyllic fashion, notching birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 3 to race out to a 3-under-par start before hitting the brakes hard with a double-bogey on the par-4 fifth. “Over the last few weeks I’ve been playing some great golf and I knew if I made a double-bogey I could get it back,” said Hall after his round. “I followed that up with two birdies, I stayed patient, and a lot of birdies came on the back nine.” After turning in 3-under 33 (thanks to birdies on Nos. 6 and 7), the Hayle, England, native birdied 11, 12 and 13 to reach 6-under on the day before closing with birdies on 17 and 18 for a 5-under 30 and a career-best opening round of 8-under 63. “To be honest, in the practice rounds the last two days, I didn’t really see a low score out here. But I hit it great off the tee today – hit it long – and hit it close and holed some good putts, so I think knowing the course now under pressure, I think I’m a lot more comfortable,” said Hall, who cited his putter as the reason for the low round. After finishing a standout career at UNLV where he was named 2019 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, Hall remained an amateur through the summer in order to represent the International Team in the Palmer Cup and Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in his native England last September. He launched his professional career soon thereafter at the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, where he posted a T15 finish after being paired with Rory McIlroy in the final round – beating McIlroy by two shots that day. Hall added a 12th-place finish at the South African Open in November, but then stumbled in the final stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, closing in 73-71 for a T114 finish and had no chance of getting into early-season events on his number. Following the temporary suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 22-year- old Monday qualified for the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass once the Tour made its return to competition a few weeks ago, but missed the cut by two shots with a 2-over 142 total through 36 holes of play. At TalonsCove Golf Club in nearby Saratoga Springs, Utah, Hall posted a 7-under 65 in the Utah Championship’s Monday qualifier and survived a 7-for-3 playoff in order to yet again gain a start in the event via professional golf’s hardest route. He ventured well into nighttime – 9:45 p.m. to be exact – and required six holes to earn his spot in one of the Korn Ferry Tour’s oldest events. “I’ve gotten a pretty good ‘Monday Q’ track record, so I’m just trying to prove myself on the Tour, get some guaranteed starts and not really look back,” he said. “I’m just going to keep on doing what I’m doing.” Jaeger, who owns the Tour’s all-time scoring record with a 12-under 58 in the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, played in the afternoon wave on Thursday, matching Hall’s early- morning pace after posting six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 second (his 11th) in his first 12 holes of play. The 31-year-old, who played at UT-Chattanooga and currently lives in the Tennessee city, slowed down considerably after the eagle-birdie run on his closing nine, playing the last six holes even-par to match Hall with an 8-under 63 of his own. “I had a lot of good wedges, honestly. On the front, I just kind of kept it in front of me and had a lot of easy putts – uphill. On these greens, they have to be uphill putts, otherwise you kind of have to play defense,” said Jaeger. “I started off hot on the second nine and kind of limped in, but it’s still a good round. I’m obviously right there and (with) three more rounds like this, we’re going to be good.” Jaeger made his first six cuts of the Tour’s re-imagined 2020 season before missing the weekend last week at The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village. Making his 91st career start this week, the Munich native is no stranger to the winner’s circle on the Korn Ferry Tour, claiming the aforementioned Ellie Mae Classic and three other titles – most recently, the 2018 Visit Knoxville Open. Jaeger was a full member of the PGA TOUR during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, racking up nine top-25 finishes including a career-best T13 at the 2018 Quicken Loans National. Regardless of his success, the eighth-year professional knows the field in Utah is deep, and there is no excuse for letting up after a stellar start. “Obviously I’ve been fortunate enough to win a couple. It just goes back to, if you play good – there are so many young guys out there who are playing good and have been the whole year – it really doesn’t matter how much success you’ve had,” he said. “These guys come out and they’re ready to win. You just have to keep the pedal down and make birdies, especially this week.” Five players sit T3 with rounds of 7-under 64, including 2009 Utah Championship winner Josh Teater, who finished runner-up to Viktor Hovland in the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open in February before the pandemic halted the season. The 41-year-old, who missed the cut in the Charles Schwab Challenge two weeks ago, is currently No. 114 in the FedExCup. THURSDAY NOTES: * Thursday’s weather: Mostly cloudy, high of 85 degrees, winds N/NW at 5-15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. * Harry Hall’s 8-under 63 was good for the lowest round of his Korn Ferry Tour career. The former UNLV standout is making only his second Tour start this week. * Hall earned a spot in the field this week after surviving a 7-for-3 playoff during open qualifying. Two weeks ago, he earned a spot in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass through open qualifying. * Earlier this year, Hall earned a spot in the field at the Farmers Insurance Open through open qualifying. He went on to miss the cut in his PGA TOUR debut. * Hall is looking to become the first open qualifier to win on the Korn Ferry Tour since Martin Trainer won the 2018 El Bosque Mexico Championship by INNOVA. * Stephan Jaeger’s (T1, -8) 63 is the second-lowest opening-round score of his Korn Ferry Tour career. At the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, Jaeger set the record for the lowest round in Korn Ferry Tour history after shooting a first-round 12-under 58. * This marks the third time Jaeger has held at least a share of the 18-hole lead on the Korn Ferry Tour. He converted one of those leads into a victory (2016 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae). * Chandler Blanchet sits T3 at 7-under in just his third Korn Ferry Tour start. Earlier this year, he finished T4 in his Korn Ferry Tour debut at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. * Josh Teater sits T3 after an opening-round 7-under 64. He earned his only Korn Ferry Tour title at the 2009 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. * Daniel Summerhays, who is making his last start as a professional, sits T73 at 2-under. Daniel’s nephew, Preston, sits T95 after an opening-round 1-under 70. * Amateur Cole Ponich sits T73 at 2-under after a first-round 69. Ponich earned a spot in the field through open qualifying earlier this week and resides minutes from Oakridge Country Club. * The newly created 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour schedule will conclude with 25 PGA TOUR cards awarded at the 2021 WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz, with an additional 25 cards awarded at the conclusion of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals. * This week’s purse is $650,000 with $117,000 going to the champion. The champion will also receive 500 Korn Ferry Tour points. * The par-4 10th hole (517 yards) played as the hardest hole on Thursday with a scoring average of 4.290. The 10th ranked as the ninth-hardest hole on Tour in 2019. * The par-5 15th hole (547 yards) played as the easiest hole on Thursday with a scoring average of 4.400. Front Back Total R1 34.619 34.245 68.865 For the latest information and updates on the Korn Ferry Tour visit www.pgatourmedia.com Scores available at www.pgatour.com or on the Associated Press wire Follow the Korn Ferry Tour on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kornferrytour on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kornferrytour/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kornferrytour/?hl=en .